Keep Your Enemies Close
by sirena1
Summary: Harry, Hermione, and Ron don’t return to Hogwarts for their seventh year. Neither does Draco. Ginny leaves before her sixth year, stowing away with H, Hr, and R. Harry is determined to have revenge on both Snape and Voldemort.
1. The Meeting

Okay everyone. Here I go again. I read about the competition on and decided that I just had to enter it. I love to write, and I've been told I'm good at it. Anyone interested in betaing for me, or in reading the original novels I've written, please email me at PS, if you're an agent or an editor, or happen to work for a publisher, please please please want to read my stuff. I pour my soul into what I write. It's the most important thing in my life.

Title: Keep your enemies close

Rating: Pg-13 to R. Language, sex, violence, and probably a little bit of darkness.

Summary: Harry, Hermione, and Ron don't return to Hogwarts for their seventh year. Neither does Draco. Ginny leaves before her sixth year, stowing away with H, Hr, and R. Harry is determined to have revenge on both Snape and Voldemort.

Dedication: To Kali. The one person who never thought my passion for spinning a story was just folly and silly. For believing I could make this my life if I really wanted to.

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Nothing helped ease the raw grief. The sorrow. The guilt. Not watching Bill and Fleur standing in front of the Minister of Magic taking their wedding vows. Not passing his Apparition test in July, watching Ron do the same. Nothing helped. It was always there. Hounding him, nipping at his heels. There was no rest from it. He wasn't quite sure he wanted a rest from it. It kept him going, kept him searching. Looking for those responsible, the ones that had to pay.

He watched Ginny bloom from a girl into a young woman, only four months younger than him. She was beautiful. He wished they had been able to see if they worked together. Both understood why they couldn't ever be anything but friends. Why, despite the attraction that had been there, they liked it better as friends.

He saw Ron find solace in Luna. Loony Luna Lovegood he'd called her, but when it had counted that night in the castle, she'd been there for him. She'd helped him survive. And they'd come together out of desperation and fear. It was a powerful combination, one of terror and hopelessness. Harry was glad when Hermione didn't mind. Thankful.

It would have been awkward to say the least. The three of them, travelling the whole of the wizard world searching out Death Eaters. Living in cramped quarters, sharing space and a bathroom and, in some particularly tight rooms, a bedroom.

Hermione had emerged from her books. Oh, she still took a library with them when they travelled, but she didn't spend her free time in them. No, her free time was spent searching newspapers for suspicious activities, looking for clues as to the whereabouts of Voldemort and Snape. That and practicing spells, writing new ones that Voldemort wouldn't have defenses against. If anyone could do it, it was Hermione.

Harry knew most would call them vigilantes. Doing the job of an Auror without the certification and training. He also knew they were more qualified to face down Death Eaters than any Auror, and that if push came to shove, that they had a better chance at defeating Voldemort. He couldn't believe there was even a small chance they would fail. The hope of success was the only thing that got him through the night.

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They found him a few days past Harry's eighteenth birthday. In Diagon Alley, perusing wands in Ollivander's. There was a new owner, Ollivander's son, but the wands were still the best. Hermione's had been damaged in a battle with Death Eaters, and she needed a replacement.

"Malfoy."

Draco turned around, found himself met with two wands pointed at his chest. He could practically see them bursting with the Avada Kedavra. "Potter. Granger. Weasley." He nodded at each of them. "Put those away, would you? I'm unarmed at the moment."

Harry merely lowered his. "We need to talk."

"Doesn't sound like you want to have a friendly conversation, Potter. And I'm not in the mood to duel at the moment."

"We aren't feeling too friendly towards you at the moment, Malfoy." Ron said, keeping an eye on Hermione as she examined wands. "What are you doing here?"

"Needed a wand." Draco jerked a shoulder. "Not a crime as far as I was aware. Has that law changed recently?"

"The last thing we want is a Death Eater getting a new wand. You're going to put that back, and you're going to leave."

Suddenly, Draco looked paler and much more frail than he ever had before. The man simply looked defeated. He shook his head. "I'm not a Death Eater, Potter." He laughed, and the sound was so bitter, Harry felt himself soften a little. "I couldn't do it." He pulled up the sleeve of his robe, revealed the place on his arm where the Dark Mark had been. There was nothing but a ghastly scar. "My father's prestige ensured that I wouldn't be killed. They cut it off of me."

Hermione was determined not to cry. She felt her eyes well with tears of sympathy, and felt her hatred toward Draco seep out. "Harry."

Harry looked over at Hermione. "What?"

"Shouldn't we help him? They may not have killed him, but they will if they ever find him again."

"I don't need your help." Draco said, anger flashing into his eyes. "And if they do kill me, rest assured, I'll take plenty of them down with me." He sighed, looked at the ground. "I didn't like the old man, but I didn't want him dead, either. Even when I was pointing a wand at his chest, he was offering to help me. To hide me from them, give me a new life, a new identity."

"And you let Snape kill him." Ron spat. "That makes you as guilty as him."

Draco met Ron's eyes. "You think you're so blameless, Weasley? You spent all year chasing ass instead of listening to Potter every time he tried to tell you what was going on."

Ron growled, low in his throat. Harry recognized the sound as dangerous, stepped in between the other men. "Calm down." He looked at Ron. "Dumbledore didn't think he was evil. Even at the last. That should mean he deserves a chance." Harry turned to Draco. "And because I have such respect to Dumbledore, I'll offer you the same he did. Our help. Protection, if you will. If you'd rather, a chance to make amends for what you did. A chance to help make his death justified." Harry held out a hand, much in the same way Draco had on their first day at Hogwarts. Not as children, but as men, on an equal playing field. A chance to bridge a gap that had grown far wider than either had realized. A gap filled with jealousy and hatred, and misunderstandings, and circumstances that had been set in motion before either of them had ever been born.

To everyone's surprise, including Draco's, he reached out and grasped the hand Harry offered. "For Dumbledore."

Hermione reached out, laid her hand on theirs. "For Dumbledore." She looked over at Ron, lifted an eyebrow in the way she had that made him realize he didn't have a choice no matter what. Grudgingly, he put his hand over hers.

"For Dumbledore."

And there, in Ollivander's, on a hot August afternoon, only two months after they all should have graduated from Hogwarts, the four people who had spent most of their seven years there as enemies, joined together for something greater than any of them individually. The chance to right old wrongs, to reunite the wizarding world. To fix what had been shattered years before when Tom Marvolo Riddle had taken his first breath and known, even then, that he was destined for evil.

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I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter. I had originally intended for it to be longer than this, but this seemed like a good ending point. More up soon. I promise. BTW, this is H/HR R/L, and D/G. There may even be some L/J in it as well. We'll just have to wait and see.


	2. Spinning the Story

"All right," Draco stood in front of Harry, Hermione and Ron, who were sitting rather stiffly on a couch in the front parlor of Malfoy Manor. Not the one in Scotland, mind you, but a smaller mansion his father had given him for his sixteenth birthday located in Canterbury, England. In order to keep the location a secret, he'd immediately sold it and then bought it back anonymously. He'd decided it was the perfect place to take Harry, Hermione and Ron to tell them what he knew. "After we left Hogwarts, we went to join up with the Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor. Voldemort had busted Dad out of Azkaban, so he was there too."

Harry held up a hand. "Lucius is out, and he didn't stop you from leaving?"

Draco sighed, resigned to the fact that he was going to have to explain elementary Death Eater policy. "I was taken in early, on my sixteenth birthday. That hadn't ever happened before. It was a sort of trial period, I guess you could say. Death Eaters have to be seventeen before they can be officially considered a member. So I had a choice, when I turned seventeen to pledge myself for life, or to revoke my membership."

"And you revoked yours." Hermione said kindly. She felt sympathetic toward Draco. His parents were evil, all he had ever known was evil, and yet, he was turning his back on that, on his family, and on the life that he had known, in order to do what he felt he had to do. "Why didn't they kill you?"

"My father." Draco looked pained for an instant, as he remembered the torture he'd gone through. Being told that all he had to do was tell them he'd changed his mind and it would stop. The Cruciatus curse, septumsempra. Being whipped the Muggle way, beaten with fists and feet. But he'd known, deep down, that all he had to do was survive and then he would be free. That the hours upon hours of pain were well worth the freedom he earned by enduring them.

"He stopped them from killing you?" Ron scoffed. "He's Death Eater to the core. Family comes well after Lord Voldemort."

"Death Eater or not, he is still my father. And I think he believes that once I've seen the other side, and gotten a chance to see things for myself, that I'll come crawling back."

"The Prodigal Son." Hermione whispered.

"What was that Granger?" Draco demanded, his silver gaze sharpening on hers.

"The Prodigal Son. It's a story they taught us in Sunday school. A man has a son who leaves with his inheritance. He wastes it on gambling and women and all manner of things. Once he can't take anymore, he goes crawling back to his father, begging to be a hand on the farm. To clean the pigpens, I think it was. His father holds a party and gives him jewels and clothes and a feast. He doesn't care what happened. All that mattered is that his son is finally home."

"All that's well and good, but I wouldn't get a feast and a party. More like a beating for leaving in the first place, and then a reinstatement as a Death Eater at the lowest possible level. Anyway, can we please get back on subject?"

Harry waved a hand. "Please. Continue."

"Thanks." Draco said dryly. "Once we got back to Malfoy Manor, there was a big party, celebrating the fall of Dumbledore. Eat, drink and be merry, I guess. Plenty of wine, food, and willing women. And there was Snape, in the guest of honor seat. We were planning a way to take over the rest of the Wizarding World. Maybe even the Muggle one if we had the whim. That's what seemed wrong to me. The Muggles are stupid, and while I still don't believe that Muggle born witches and wizards are as good as purebloods, they don't all deserve to die. They don't have a chance against us. It'd be like slaughtering puppies or kittens. Babies, perhaps."

Hermione barely repressed a smile. The self proclaimed Mudblood and Muggle hater had left partly because the Death Eaters had been planning on butchering those very people. She was beginning to realize that Draco had been all bark and little bite all through their years at school. She relaxed, enough that she shifted to use Harry's shoulder as a pillow. With all the precautions they'd had to take against being see together for more that a couple minutes, it had been after midnight by the time they'd all arrived at Draco's house. He'd had to Apparate them inside, and they'd all had to Apparate from separate spots. She was tired.

"Okay, so they want to take over the Muggle world." Hermione didn't phrase it as a question, though Draco nodded to assure her that she had it right. "I should Owl my parents and let them know. They can look out for any unusual activity. More strange deaths, attacks. All that. They know what to look for."

Draco pondered that. "No Owls. The Death Eaters could intercept them. You'll use Muggle mail. Email. Do you know how to do that?"

Hermione nodded, tongue in cheek. She'd been using email since she could write. "I know how."

"Good." Harry took command of the conversation at that point. "Is that all of their plan so far? Take over both worlds? Do you know the how? What to look for?"

"The same way they did last time." Draco paced. "Death Eater numbers are low. A lot have died, or are still in Azkaban. Still more did what I did and carved off their Mark. They need to recruit. Pureblood, than Halfbloods. What they can't recruit, they'll kill. After that, they'll attack the schools. Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, all the American schools. Mosnar's, Clockworth's. Once they control all the schools, it'll be the Alleys. Diagon, Knockturn, Draconis, Pelicula, Jarthra. All of them. After the Alleys are under their control, it'll be the Aurors, and then finally the whole of the Ministry. Once they control the wizarding world, it won't be hard to attack and destroy that of the Muggles."

Harry expelled a breath. "So we need to stop them." He looked at his friends, and at Draco. "And I'm afraid what we've been doing simply isn't going to cut it anymore. We need to go to the Order, and Malfoy, you need to make up a list of all their hideouts. We need to know where they are. Once we know that, we can start to stop them. Hopefully, if we do enough damage, Voldemort will decide to come after us. Or at least start sending the big wigs in this whole thing. Like Belletrix and Narcissa, and Lucius. Crabbe and Goyle, Snape." Harry's eyes shined with anger. "I'd really like for him to send Snape. I've been practicing."

Draco couldn't believe what he was about to say. "Snape's been practicing too. And Voldemort was planning on sending my father and Snape to get you. They want you alive, Potter. Voldemort wants to kill you himself."

Harry sneered, and managed to look dangerous. Malfoy was unwillingly impressed. "He'll get his chance. And I'll do to him now what I did to him then. Except this time, I won't be a baby. I'm going to end this."

Ron patted Harry's shoulder. "I believe you will, mate. Or at least that you'll take him out with you."

Hermione glared at all three of the boys. "No one is going to die." She said sternly, and Draco realized just why the other two men had listened to her for so long. She sounded just like his mother. Strict and daring you to defy her. "Except," she added, almost as an afterthought, "the Death Eaters."

Draco lifted his glass of wine. "Amen to that. Now, it's getting late, and I'm exhausted. You may," he said, with grudging hospitality, "Stay here if you wish. Or, I'll meet you at the Weasley's tomorrow to meet with the Order. It is ultimately your decision."

Ron laughed as they got their cloaks. "There's the pompous ass we all hate."

Hermione tucked her wand into her pocket. "We'll go back to the apartment. This is one of few nights we get to sleep in our own beds."

Harry opened the front door and the three friends stepped through. He looked back at Draco. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, Malfoy, but we're trusting you as much as you're trusting us. That means we both have a lot to lose here."

"Save your breath, Potter. I've absolutely no plans of betraying you. It would be my neck in the proverbial guillotine right next to yours." He smiled for the first time. "And if we're nothing else, we Malfoy's are self preservationists." He turned back into the house. "I'll be there at noon. Make sure everyone knows I'm not there to kill them before I arrive. I don't want to be cursed on sight."

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The Weasley's weren't happy about the arrangement, and Harry didn't suppose he could blame them. But they had done as he had asked with little fuss and protest. When push came to shove, they trusted him. After all, he'd saved the lives of most of their family. And he had Hermione's support on the whole matter. That had helped too.

Molly was puttering around in the kitchen when Hermione and Ginny bounded in. She looked at her daughter and the woman she considered hers and felt tears well up in her eyes. They'd both been forced to grow up much faster than she would have liked. And they'd bloomed from girls into women, despite their young ages.

Hermione had sprouted a good four inches since the end of her sixth year, landing at five foot eight. Her hair had lost it's frizziness and settled into ringlets. Her features had softened, lending her the look of elegance and classic beauty. Strong cheekbones, big chocolate brown eyes, and a lush mouth no one had noticed before she'd had her teeth fixed. Her hair had changed colors slightly, to a deep whisky color, as opposed to the mousy brown it had been through her childhood. Her body had curved gently, straying from the straight lines that had plagued her adolescence. Overall, she was happy with her less than voluptuous, but relatively proportionate frame.

Ginny was the opposite. She'd stopped growing at five foot five and was a powerhouse. She reveled in her wildly red hair, loved the fact that it was straight. Her features were striking. High cheekbones, huge, bright green eyes, high dramatic forehead, pointed chin, straight nose. Her mouth was wide and full, her teeth straight and white. Her body was packed full of curves, lush and full, though her body remained slim. She worked mercilessly to keep it that way. She'd come quite a way from the stick figure she'd been throughout her first fifteen years.

The boys had grown into their looks too, Molly mused, looking at Harry and Ron. Both had stopped at over six feet, though Ron was the taller of the two. They had filled out as well, becoming slim and muscular rather than skinny and gangly. Harry was more filled out, his body like James' had been. Wide of shoulder, narrow of hip, rakish grin and a heart of gold. Ron took after the twins. Always looked like he was up to no good, and normally was. It was the combination of that impishness and boyish charm that kept the girls watching them.

Molly saw Arthur let Draco in, and her mouth dropped open. He wasn't the small, almost evil looking boy she remembered. No, he too, had changed drastically. He'd stopped growing at probably six feet on the dot, she estimated, and was built like a brawler. Muscled packed tightly beneath the plain t-shirt and jeans he wore. His face had lost its gauntness and filled out, making him handsome. He, too, possessed the rakish grin that made most women fawn, but Molly imagined he was most likely a rake, where Harry wasn't. His hair was longer than she remembered, but it worked for him. Molly saw Ginny head into the front room, stop and stare. Draco was in just as much shock.

"Well, Weasel," he said, and the voice shook Molly from her trance, "you've certainly grown up since I saw you last."

"So have you, Malfoy. You look less like a snake, and more like a human."

"Such a compliment. Potter, I need to talk to you."

Harry made his way over. "What's up?"

Draco took a deep breath. "There's something I didn't tell you last night."

"What?"

"They aren't dead."

Harry's brow creased. "Who isn't dead?"

"Your parents. Sirius. They're still alive. See, when you defeated Voldemort, the last curses Voldemort did were reversed. But the Ministry took your parents to a safe hiding place and placed them in a sleep state, if you will. The same with Sirius. That thing that was supposed to kill him simply took his to the same chamber as your parents."

It would be to his eternal consternation that Malfoy's face was the last thing that Harry saw before he passed out.


	3. The Chamber

This is a little longer than the last, and explains a lot about things I mentioned in the last chapter.

I hope everyone's curiosity is sated so far. Not as much of a cliffhanger this time. Look for real action in the

next chapter, which will hopefully be up tomorrow.

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Harry regained consciousness slowly. He opened his eyes, recognized the Weasleys' living room. He was lying on the couch, his head on something soft. He turned his head and looked to his left, saw Hermione looking down at him. He was lying in her lap. He groaned, let her help him sit up. He looked around, saw Draco, Ron and Ginny reluctantly sharing the other couch. His gaze fastened on Draco.

"You're getting one chance to explain before I curse your ass."

Draco nodded. "I can respect that." He stood to pace. "I haven't known for long. I thought they were dead, same as you did, though I'll admit I wasn't as torn up as you were. In fact, I was rather relieved when Black bit it. I didn't know your parents, but Dad said they were a pain in the ass." At Harry's sharp look, he got back on topic. "Anyway, I shouldn't even know, but Rufus Scrimgeour had a meeting with the Dark Lord and I was curious, so I listened at the door. Apparently, Scrimgeour has been a Death Eater since the very beginning. When he took over the post of Minister of Magic, he found out. Fudge didn't know. Honestly, the only man who knew who was in that chamber is dead, and has been for over a decade. Scrimgeour found a report shoved into the back of Fudge's desk talking about a sleep chamber. He got curious and found it. When he went in, he found Lily, James and Sirius. He went straight to Voldemort, thinking that the Death Eaters could use the three of them as leverage against you."

Harry nodded. "It would have been a good plan. Probably would have worked too." He sighed, stood to pace the other side of the room. "Does Voldemort have them?"

"No. Only Scrimgeour can get into the chamber, and once he opened it the first time, an investigation was started. He can't go back in and steal them while the investigation is pending. It would raise too many suspicions."

"So we have a window." Arthur said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder. "And we're going to get them back. You'll just have to give me a chance to find out where the chamber is."

Draco lifted a finger to bring attention back to him. "That's another thing. I know where it is."

Harry sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" He barely noticed when Hermione took his arm to keep him from pacing. "Okay, so where are they and how do I go about getting them out?"

"In the basement of the Ministry. A hidden room, kinda like the Room of Requirement. You have to need it to be what it is." Draco sat down, suddenly tired. Doing what he was doing, going against what he'd always thought was right, was taking a lot of energy and even more of his strength. "It isn't easy to get to. Not for anyone other than the Minister of Magic, which is why none of the Death Eaters have gone in so far. Riddles, magical beasts, tests that you have to pass. A lot of things that no ordinary witch or wizard could overcome."

Hermione sat up straighter. "It sounds like the Sorcerer's Stone. Like all the things Harry had to go through to get to it."

Ron scoffed. "We were there too Hermione."

"I know we were, but Harry was the one to get it out."

"But only because I knew chess and you knew about that plant, and figured out the riddle to the potions. He never would have made it without us."

"That isn't the point, Ronald. The point is, that Harry retrieved the Sorcerer's Stone, and this seems to me like it will resemble the tasks we were required to complete."

"Shut up, both of you!" Draco snapped, and felt very much like clamping his hands over his ears. He looked at Harry. "Do they do this often?"

"More often that I'd like for them to. What kind of tasks, Malfoy?"

"More potion work. Sort of like a Potions test back at school. You're given a group of ingredients and you have one chance to make the correct potion. If you do it correctly, and you only get one try, you get to move on. And all the research I've done has suggested that people have tried to get into this chamber since the beginning of the Ministry. Only two have ever made it past the first task."

"That doesn't matter." Ron said stubbornly. "No one else has been us."

Draco had to grudgingly admit that they were right. The three of them, as nothing more than children themselves, had managed to defeat Voldemort more times that any Death Eater cared to think about. "The second task is much harder. Only one person has ever done it. It's a troll."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "A troll? We defeated one of those in our first year."

"Yes, but not like this. It's a half-breed. Half troll, half-giant, and impervious to magic. The only thing getting you past that is guts and brain. You have to outsmart it, get around it, pick the right key, of which there are twelve to choose from, and get through the door on the other side of the chamber."

Harry didn't seem impressed. "We got past Fluffy, I've handled dragons, and merpeople and mazes with beasts in them. This is nothing new to us, Malfoy."

"Well, Potter, you have to get through the last three of those in this. Dragons, and merpeople and mazes with beasts in them. And then you have to be allowed in by the Unicorn guarding the gate. Only the pure of heart and intention can pass. And after that, the room itself has to let you in. Just like the Room of Requirement."

"Okay. That sounds rather complicated. How many people are allowed in?"

"As far as I can tell, four."

"Great." Ron said, brightening. "The three of us and maybe Charlie, to deal with the dragons."

But Harry shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Ron. Merlin help us, because I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's going to be the three of us and Malfoy."

Around the room, protestations broke out. Hermione waved her wand and a loud blast came out of the tip. "I agree. No matter how much he tells us, Draco still has the first hand information that we need to get through that thing. And no matter how much none of us like it, he has more resources at his disposal. And despite the fact that this is the one and only time I will admit anything like this, he's better than I am at potions. We'll need him to get through. And I've read enough on dragons to get us past just about anything, Ron. I'd stay, but you'll need me for the troll, and the merpeople since I speak Mermish. Harry has to go, because he's faced everything we're going to be facing. Ron, we'll need you for the maze since you have the best sense of direction out of all of us. And honestly, I don't think Harry would work as well if we weren't along. We're used to each other."

"Okay, now that that's settled, we have to decide when to move in." He looked at Draco. "How long is this inquiry going to take?"

"Another few days. The Department of Mysteries is in charge of it."

"Which means they're probably going to work at night." Arthur said. "The Dept. of Mysteries is so busy during the days that they do all of their Internal Investigations at night."

"Great." Harry said sarcastically. "That means we have to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic in the middle of the day." He looked around the room. "I don't want any objections. Because we'll do it with or without them. We'll leave for the Ministry tomorrow morning at nine am. I want the Ministry to be busy with its morning flood. We're less likely to be noticed that way." When no one spoke, Harry continued. "Malfoy, I want you to tell me all that you know about how they got there."

Molly coughed. "I don't think we all need to know this right now. Boys, why don't you run along. You all have jobs you should be attending to. Ginny, Hermione, Ron, I could use your help in the kitchen for a while, and the garden needs degnoming."

Harry looked at Hermione and Ron. "You two stay. You're as much a part of this as I am."

The both sat back down, flanking him in an unconscious show of protection as much as a conscious one of support. Draco took up residence in the recliner directly across from the couch on which they sat. He'd known questions would come up, and was prepared to answer them. Though he still didn't like it.

"I don't know everything. When your parents died, your mother gave her life to save you, and your father did the same for you and your mother. Lily was protected by James' sacrifice, and then you were protected by hers'. Retrospectively, you were also protected by James', which meant that the three of you were connected that night. When Voldemort cursed you, the power of not only your mother's spell, but also of your father's, protected you, and made the spell reflect itself upon him. When that happened, somehow, and I don't know how, the most recent spells Voldemort had cast, were reversed. Fudge wasn't the Minister then, a man named Ricardo Juarez was. The only Hispanic minister we've ever had. The Aurors who were first on the scene reported that Lily and James were still alive, but only barely. He ordered them taken to St. Mungo's, under different names. They were treated, but kept sedated. When they were stable, Juarez had them taken to the chamber beneath the ministry and put into a sleep state. A cryogenic one, if you will. They can only be unfrozen from inside the chamber.

"Juarez and both of the Aurors who knew who was in that chamber were killed barely two weeks later. No one knew about it until Scrimgeour took over. Fudge had received a report on it, but apparently was too busy with keeping things running these past years, that he never got around to going down there. Now here's where the details get a little foggy. From what I know, I can tell you the apparently the thing Sirius fell, or leapt or whatever the hell he did, into that night led straight into that Chamber. When everything had been set up thousands of years ago, it was thought that people might try to break in, and that whoever did would need to be stopped. By falling into that thing. But generations went by and no one ever did, so it was forgotten about where it led. All I can do here is assume that anyone who is placed into the chamber through the Department of Mysteries is automatically put to sleep."

"Do they age?"

Draco nodded. "They do. Just like us. I guess the chamber was never intended for long term use."

"So what does that mean for my parents?"

Draco shook his head. "I don't know. Scrimgeour said he checked their vital signs and everything seemed to be normal. It can be assumed that they're fine."

"I guess assumptions are all that we have right now." Harry said, rubbing his hands over his face. "But if we know all this, it can also be assumed that Voldemort knows more."

"I think it's safe to say without a shadow of a doubt that Voldemort knows more than we do." Hermione corrected. "Draco just heard one conversation, and that was months ago. There's no telling how much more they know."

"Hermione's right." Draco told Harry, leaning back in the chair. "There's no way for me to find out, but I think I might know someone who can."

"Who?"

Draco sighed. "My father. He keeps records. Perfect records that record every detail, and he's a slave to labels. He's also a slave to habits. He'll have kept them in the same place, even though he knows I am well aware of where they are. The only problem will be going to get them."

Hermione grinned. "I can help with that." She stood, walked to her bag and withdrew a scroll of parchment. "I've been working on a cloaking spell. It should make the user able to Apparate into anywhere without being detected. Even blocks and barriers won't work."

Ron gaped at her. "That's a dangerous spell if it were to get into wrong hands."

"The only hands it's getting into are ours. Draco, if I charm you, you'll be invisible for half an hour. So far that's all I've been able to wrestle out of it. You should be able to Apparate through the detection spells and barriers on Malfoy Manor with no problem. But make sure you're only in there twenty minutes. I don't want you to risk detection on the way out."

"Got it." Draco stood and donned his robes over his street clothes. "Let's get this done then."

Hermione picked up her wand and pointed it at Draco. "This is going to feel weird and tingly. When you feel the tingles start to go away, you know the spell has almost worn off."

"Right. Got it. No tingles equals major badness. Do it already, Granger."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Non animadverto invenio." Draco disappeared with a small whoosh sound, and then they heard the tell tale pop of an apparition.

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Draco arrived in the foyer of Malfoy Manor, still tingly, and still invisible. Moving silently, he made his way into his father's office. He wasn't very surprised to find Lucius at his desk, a quill in one hand, snifter of brandy in the other. He slipped around the desk, went to the Muggle style file cabinet. Lucius never looked up. Draco knew his father tended to be completely absorbed in his work and his alcohol when he was in his office.

More confident since the spell seemed to be holding, he slowly eased open a drawer. Working directly behind Lucius like he was would ensure that Lucius didn't catch the motion out of the corner of his eye. It took his until the bottom drawer to find what he needed. It was clearly marked 'Potter Sleeping Chamber'. Victorious, he took all the papers out of the file, closed the drawer, and tucked them beneath his robes. He waited until he was back in the foyer before Disapparating. The Burrow was his destination.

He arrived, still invisible, and made everyone wait ten minutes until he became visible again. Once he was, he took out the parchment. "Well, boys and girls, we have here a map of the chamber and obstacles, as well as information on the merpeople, the maze and what kind of dragons they think it could possibly be."

Harry took the map. "This looks like the Marauder's Map."

Draco peered, and sure enough, he saw markings like 'dragon' and 'merking' moving around. "This is good. This will help."

Harry met Draco's eyes. "Thanks, Malfoy."

Draco nodded. "Don't mention it, Potter."

While Harry didn't doubt he would honor the request, and Draco didn't want to think about what he had done for the man he had considered his archnemesis, both men knew that they had taken the first step toward a common ground.


	4. Potions and Trolls

All right. I want to address a review I received stating that this person thought I should have left Lily and James and Sirius dead. I brought them back for a reason. After the three of them died, Harry turned solely to Dumbledore for guidance and help. Dumbledore is dead. Harry is by himself. And how is a wizard who is depressed and feeling sorry for himself all the time going to rally the strength to defeat Voldemort, defeat the Death Eaters, and get the girl? He isn't. At least not without a little help. And that helps me throw a wrench in Voldemort's plans as well. Even if you don't agree with my decision to bring them back instead of Dumbledore, please give me a chance to prove you wrong. I've got this idea in my head, and it refuses to be pushed to the back burner. Anyway, I've taken up enough of your time. Please, enjoy chapter 4. And don't forget to vote in the Felix Felices competition next month. This story is entered into it.

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Harry was restless. He couldn't sleep. Soon got sick of even pretending that he could. He slipped from bed, having decided to go downstairs and raid the kitchen. Molly had made German Chocolate Cake for dessert, and he was hoping that a piece would help him get to sleep. He pretty much knew that it was hopeless, but he liked the cake and it was an excuse if he got caught.

In the end, he didn't get caught, but did the catching. He found Hermione sitting at the island on a barstool with a glass of milk and an apple slathered in peanut butter. She looked up when she saw his shadow, smiled. "Hey."

Harry took the cake out of the fridge, sat it on the counter. "Hey. Couldn't sleep either?"

"No." She sighed deeply, looked out the window. "I never can when we're about to go do something this big."

Harry chuckled. "We've never done something this big." He told her, taking the other barstool.

"Not that meant something to one of us, no, I couldn't agree with you more. But in danger and adventure, we've done plenty. The Chamber of Secrets, the Sorcerer's Stone, the Time Turner, the TriWizard Tournament, the Department of Mysteries and all those prophecies, the Dementors, all the stuff during our sixth year with Malfoy and Snape and the personal crap and the Horcrux, which we still have to find three of. And Harry, we can't kill Voldemort until we find them."

"I know. And you're right. We have done plenty. God, 'Mione, we were just kids ourselves. How did we do it? And not end up dead?"

Hermione finished her apple, laid her hand over his. "We trusted each other unequivocally. The bookworm, the hotshot and the hero. With that combination, we were unbeatable."

Harry smiled, turned his hand up into hers. "We'll finish this, won't we?"

Hermione nodded. "We will. And we'll do it together. You, me, and Ron. We've been doing it for seven years. And nothing's stopped us yet. This isn't going to be the thing that does it." She leaned forward. "Harry. I haven't ever asked, because you didn't want to talk about it. What are the Horcruxes?"

Harry stiffened slightly. "I've told you about how they're made, about what they are."

"Yeah, but never what they're concealed as."

"There were six. Tom Riddle's diary, a ring Dumbledore destroyed, the one that was destroyed by whoever got to that place inside the cave first, a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin, a goblet that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff and Nagini the snake."

"Nagini? An animal?"

"Dumbledore was sure of it. It was one of the last things we talked about before he died."

Hermione thought quickly. "Dumbledore also said that he made the Horcruxes from very meaningful deaths?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So, he thought that you would be the last one. When you didn't die, he used Nagini. Voldemort liked to brag. And he stowed the diary with Lucius Malfoy, hid the one you didn't find, and Dumbledore ended up with the another. He has the last. Wouldn't it make sense that other loyal followers would get the other two?"

Harry thought about it. "I think that makes sense. But who?"

Hermione met his gaze. "Who were his most loyal followers who gaze him the most?"

Harry knew instantly. "Snape. And Bellatrix."

"My thoughts exactly."

Harry nodded. "You're brilliant Herms."

Hermione blushed. "I'm the bookworm. I'm good at deductive reasoning. You'd have figured it out on you own just fine. It might have taken you longer, but you'd have figured it out."

"By the time I did, it might have been too late. We'll ask Malfoy about everything after we rescue my parents and Sirius tomorrow. If anyone knows, it'll be him. It's his aunt and mentor we're talking about."

Hermione stood, took their plates and glasses to the sink. "And with that, we should at least try to get some sleep."

Harry stood. "I'll walk you up."

Hermione was sharing the attic room with Ginny. Harry was on the third floor with Ron. Hermione didn't object, though. She knew it wouldn't have done any good. When they reached her bedroom door, she turned, stretched upward to hug him. "That you, Harry."

Harry laid his hands on her shoulder. "For what?"

Hermione smiled. "Always being the hero."

Later Harry would wonder if it was fatigue, or the moonlight streaming in through the hall window. He'd ponder for a quick second whether he'd been charmed. But the truth was, the only thing that charmed him was his best friend. In any case, no matter what he would later consider as excuses, he took her chin in his hand, tipped her head back and covered her mouth with his.

Hermione was shocked from the top of her curls, to the tip of her toes. Running on blind instinct, her hand drifted to his cheek, and his kiss was returned timidly. It was light and sweet, exploratory, just seeing if there was anything between them. What there was, was electricity, sparks between them. Harry backed off before he was more than tempted to push her for more, releasing her mouth, taking a step back.

He grinned.

"Night Herms."

Hermione gaped at him. "Night." She turned and walked straight into the door. Rubbing her head and praying he'd somehow missed it, she opened the door and walked inside. Harry managed not to laugh until he was back in the room he was sharing with Ron.

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Molly woke everyone at seven. She'd already fixed breakfast and had it waiting in the kitchen. No one who looked at her would have guessed that she hadn't slept for a minute all night. She could tell, from looking at everyone she dragged out of bed, that all of the people under her roof had passed the same kind of night she had. Harry and Ron had already showered and dressed in cloaks, their robes on and wands tucked in pockets. Harry had the map and papers Draco had procured the day before. Hermione, Ginny and Draco were pretty much the same.

"I want you all to eat a good breakfast. This is going to be a long day. And I'll have dinner waiting for you here when you get back. I'm sure that Lily, James and Sirius will need something to eat. They'll probably be absolutely starved. Harry, I know you probably don't know, but do you have any idea what their favorite food was?"

He did, because it was his as well. "Yeah. Aunt Petunia was always complaining that I was just like them. It's lasagna."

Molly nodded briskly. "I'll make it then. A huge pan."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

"Don't mention it. Draco, would you like to have pancakes or eggs for breakfast?"

"Eggs."

"How do you like them?"

"Benedict."

Molly selected the proper plate and served him a hearty portion. She added bacon, sausage, grits and hash browns. Draco's eyes widened, but he knew enough not to object when he saw everyone else's plates piled similarly. He decided that it was a typical breakfast at the Weasley household. And considering what they had to do that day, he didn't want to make anyone angry or distracted. He normally would have relished the chance to do just that, but on that particular day, his life was at stake along with theirs'. He didn't necessarily care for the fact that he was dependent upon Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

Harry finished his breakfast and stood. "We're leaving in half an hour." He said, and walked outside. Following instinct more than his brain, Draco followed him, leaving half a plate of food behind him. He wasn't entirely sure that part of the reason for accompanying Harry wasn't to get out of eating the rest of what Molly had placed in front of him.

"Potter, slow down." Draco demanded, catching up to the other man. Harry shortened his stride and turned around.

"Not now, Malfoy."

Draco's brow furrowed. "Not now what?"

"I'm not in a mood to get your holier than thou speech. I don't need to know about how imperative it is that even if none of us survive, you must, and how important you are to the wizard community. I've got enough on my mind as it is."

"If I though that, do you really think I would have agreed to come along on this suicide mission?" Draco didn't give Harry a chance to answer, but did it for him. "Absolutely not. Look, I don't even know why I came out here. But, Potter, you can't dwell on this. You just have to do it. Think of it like a Quidditch game." He couldn't believe he was giving Harry advice. "You can't think about what's coming next, or what's going to happen, or what the outcome is going to be. You just have to roll with the punches and take whatever comes at you."

Harry looked at Draco, disbelief evident in his eyes. "You do realize that I am not going to hesitate to kill every Death Eater Voldemort sends at me? That if he sends your father, I will kill him too."

"What does that have to do with now?" Draco asked, hesitantly sitting down on the swing the Weasley's had in their yard. He wasn't entirely sure the thing would hold him. When he found that it did, he relaxed a little. "Self preservationist, Potter. If it's him and me, it's going to be him that dies. Family doesn't mean much to me."

For the first time, Harry felt sorry for Draco. He hadn't had the greatest childhood either, with his aunt and uncle, but at least his parents had loved him. Draco hadn't even had that much. Harry respected the older man, though he probably wouldn't ever say so, and would deny it with his dying breath. It would have been so easy for him to just follow his father's path. But he hadn't. He'd walked away from it and had chosen one that was of good. He'd almost died doing it, but he had done it. And more than that, he was helping the people he'd always considered enemies destroy what he'd spend almost all of his life working towards.

"Look, Malfoy, you and I will never be friends."

Draco laughed. "Damn straight."

"But maybe we can settle at non enemies."

Draco shrugged. "I'll think about it." He got up and headed back to the house. "We leave in fifteen minutes, Potter. Don't be late."

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Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco had decided to travel by Apparition to directly outside the Ministry of Magic. Harry had, albeit it grudgingly, lent Draco his Invisibility Cloak for the entrance to the Ministry. If he was seen, it would raise suspicions, and the other three were regulars in the building. While all four were pretending to be quite at ease with their endeavor, the truth was, not one of them was free from butterflies of the stomach.

Harry look at his two best friends, and the man he hardly trusted as far as he could be thrown. "All right then, let's go."

With that having been said, the four of the Apparated. A split second later, they were all staring at the Ministry of Magic. Harry nodded, and they walked in. All four were praying that no one ran into Draco. When they made it onto a lift, and headed it into the basement with no mishaps, all let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

Luck couldn't hold up for forever, though, and there were people in the basement, people who looked to be from the Department of Mysteries. Arthur had been wrong. They were doing the investigation during the day. Harry dragged his friends and Draco into another room, eased the door closed.

"Okay, they didn't see us, but what the bloody hell do you propose we do now?"

Hermione pulled her wand from her robes. "I propose, Harry, that I use my invisibility in indetecability spell on us. That will get us in the door. Once there, we should wait until it wears off before going any further."

Harry nodded. "Good idea. We should have thought of that before. Malfoy, give me that cloak."

Draco handed it to Harry, who folded it and put it in the pocket of his robes. Hermione pointed a Ron first. "Non animadverto invenio." Ron made a noise at the tingling, and then disappeared. Hermione cast the spell on the other two boys, and then finally on herself. "Okay, I think we should distract them, and go in while they aren't looking. The map says that our first task is the potion, so as soon as this wears off, we'll begin on that."

Harry nodded, then realized no one could see him. "All right. Let's go."

The foursome moved into the main chamber. In the floor, where the wizards were working, was a small trap door. Harry wasn't surprised that no one had found it. It blended into the stone remarkably well, and it seemed the handle was inside. There was a small indentation where it appeared that the stone had been worn down, but upon closer inspection, one's hand fit into the side of the indentation and there was a small lever there that opened the door. The papers had stated that once someone had taken on the task of entering the Sleep Chamber, no one from the outside could open the door. Which meant that as soon as they were in, they wouldn't be disturbed by and witches or wizards.

They moved around the wizards, and Harry dashed to the other side and knocked over a pile of boxes. When the men went to investigate, he quickly ran back to where one of the other three had opened the door. He waited until he heard three voices assure him that they were in, then jumped himself, pulling the door closed behind him. They were in. Harry wasn't entirely sure any of them would make it out. But he knew they were going to try their hardest.


	5. Sphinexes and Spiders and Dragons, Oh My

Sorry this is so late in the day. My mother was in an industrial accident a few months ago and had to take a pulmonary function test. She developed asthma and is unable to drive, so that took just about all day. That and my grandmother had surgery and wanted me to bake her a couple of pies for when she got home. That also took a while, so I didn't even get to start until seven.Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed so far! I am so glad you like my story! Don't forget to vote on August 15!

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"Okay," Harry said cautiously, looking around the first room. He saw a fire with a cauldron sitting on it, and a table full of ingredients. "Draco, Hermione, what do you think?" he asked them, saw that they were already taking stock of what ingredients there were. Hermione brightened almost instantly.

"I know what it is."

Draco scoffed. "You can't possibly know what it is yet." He studied the ingredients carefully. "There are several spells that use these."

"Yeah, but only one spell uses all these and halogencic acid."

Ron looked at Harry. "I'm not even going to pretend to know what they're talking about."

A light came on in Draco's brain when Hermione said that. "They can't possibly be making it this easy."

"It isn't easy. It's extremely advanced potion making." She looked at the other two boys. "We have to make a cure for the Sleeping Draught of the Living Dead."

"What?"

"It's probably what Lily, James, and Sirius are under." Draco explained. "It can be administered through ingestion, injection or in an airborne form. It keeps the takers in a state of living death basically. Their heart slows to just fast enough to keep them alive, their breathing slows dramatically, all bodily functions nearly stop. It takes months to wear off on it's own, but with the cure, the effects are gone immediately."

"It makes sense." Harry said slowly, "And since I've never heard of it, I'm guessing it isn't common."

"It's very dark magic." Hermione said. "And just as hard as the Polyjuice Potion, but it doesn't have to stew in stages. It can all be done within a couple of hours. I will need the two of you to help." She looked at Draco. "Can you remember the exact instructions?"

Draco just looked at her. "Of course I can. It was on my Potion NEWT. We had to recite the recipe and instructions for a dark potion, and I chose the Sleeping Draught of the Living Dead. You just make that and add the acid. It's simple if you really think about it." He rolled up his sleeves and picked up a decanter of blood. Unicorn's blood. "Potter, get me that gilly root."

Harry paused. "We don't want them to have gills."

"That's gilly weed, moron. This is the root. It has powerful sedative properties."

"You're the Potions geek." Harry said under his breath. He'd never admit it, but he was glad Malfoy had come along. It gave them all a distraction from the seriousness of the position that they were in. It allowed them to keep their minds somewhat off of the possible outcomes.

"I am no kind of geek." Draco said maliciously, stirring the liquid he and Hermione had already managed to produce. He added the gilly root. "We need to let this sit until it turns purple. Dark purple. Once it does, we add the acid, the newt fluid, the griffin hair and the bezoar. After that we wait for it to turn yellow and ladle it out. It will remain usable for twelve hours thereafter."

Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded. "He's right." She stirred it. "All we have to do now is wait."

Ron looked around, saw the door on the other side. "How do we get that door to open when there isn't any handle?"

"Alohomora." Harry said absent mindedly. He was watching Hermione and the potion.

"No locks, mate. So that won't work."

Draco walked across the room to peer at the door. He turned around. "Ron's right. No handle, no locks."

Harry stood. "Well, two people got past this. There has to be a way for us to do it as well."

Hermione joined the three men at the door. "You morons. This is simple."

Ron looked at her in disbelief. "You did not just take one look at this and know how to get out."

Draco chortled. "She takes one look at everything and knows how to do it."

"Why did that sound like an insult?" Hermione demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, there's nothing insulting at all about being a walking brain." Draco said sarcastically. Harry coughed.

"That's enough you two. Herms, how do we get out of here?"

She pointed to a small hole in the door. "We put a small amount of the potion in there. I imagine it's charmed to open if the potion is correct."

"And if it isn't?"

Draco looked serious again. "If it isn't, we all die."

Ron shrugged. "Right. Nothing new then. Hey, it's purple."

Hermione rushed back to the cauldron and started adding the final ingredients. Draco dropped in the bezoar and stepped back. "Not bad, Granger."

"Not too bad yourself, Malfoy." Hermione smiled. She always felt good after successfully completing a test. And that was how she had chosen to think of what they had to do. A series of tests. She was much less nervous that way. She perched on the edge of the table to wait for their potion to turn yellow while Draco prepared the beaker and ladle.

"It's ready." Draco said, casting a glance in the cauldron. Hermione took the ladle and filled the beaker and put in the stopper.

"All right. Let's go."

Ron stood up. "What's the next task?"

"The troll." Hermione dribbled the potion into the slot and the door swung open. The foursome looked into the dark room uncertainly and could already hear the deep breathing of the troll. "Lumos." The tip of her wand lit up. The other three quickly did the same. "Oh my God."

Even Draco's eyes widened. "Merlin have mercy." He whispered, looking up.

They were being faced with a troll that was close to fifty feet tall and slathering. His teeth were large and yellow. Harry honestly thought that the beast could eat them whole. And he was impervious to magic. Hermione immediately took control.

"Ron, you go between it's legs and find the right key. We'll distract it. Yell when you get it."

Ron shook his head. "You should go Herms."

"Ron, you're best at that sort of thing. It'll take me longer and we don't have that much time to waste."

Harry nodded. "Ron just go! We don't have time for this." He charged the troll without waiting for a respone. Swearing hotly, Draco rushed after him. He didn't like to be the second into battle.

Hermione shook her head. Men. They always thought they had to rush the enemy. She pointed her wand at herself. "Wingardium leviosa." She rose off the ground, and continued to rise until she was eye to eye with the troll. She reached out with her wand and tapped it on the shoulder. With a roar, it whirled and lashed out at her. She had only a split second to think that perhaps the boys had been right before she was crashing into the wall.

Harry whipped around when he heard the crash. He made a move toward Hermione, but Draco's yell stopped him. "Don't do that!" he snapped, dashing between the troll's legs. "He isn't interested in her anymore. If we get him turned around, maybe we can make him fall."

Harry had an idea. He pointed his wand at Draco. "Yarn!" he yelled, using a conjuring trick Hermione had perfected. A large ball of yarn spun out of the tip of his wand and Draco caught it, getting the idea. Harry started running around the troll, wrapping his legs up, while Draco kept him occupied with blasts of heat from his wand. Once it was tight enough, Harry waved madly at Draco. He shouted at the troll, who turned. His legs didn't work, and he toppled over. Draco managed to grab Hermione and get them both out of harm's way before the troll went over.

"She'll be fine." Draco announced, just lifting an eyebrow when Harry took Hermione from him to carry himself. Weasley, find that key before he gets out of the yarn."

Ron lifted the key. "Got it." He inserted it into the key, and the door opened. Once all three were through it, Harry still carrying Hermione, who was just beginning to stir. As there was nothing but an empty room and a cave, Harry laid Hermione on the ground while she came around.

Hermione opened her eyes. "I am never going to doubt testosterone again." She muttered, sitting up and rubbing her head. Harry laughed, crouched in front of her.

"Why's that?"

"Because I thought you were morons for charging that stupid thing and that I'd have a better chance of getting around him from eye level. It didn't work." Hermione pouted. "I'm never wrong."

"You were this time." Draco said, eyeing the cave entrance warily. "I think the dragon would be in there."

"Give her a minute." Harry snapped. "She just got bashed on the head."

Hermione laid a hand on Harry's arm. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Harry pressed a kiss to Hermione's forehead. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Oh, for Dumbledore's sake, Potter, kiss the girl already. Three of the four people in this room know you're dying to."

Hermione blushed bright red. Harry was nearly as red. "Want me to kill him?"

Hermione shook his head. "No." she pulled him down and kissed him, hard. "For being the gentleman."

Harry laughed as he pulled her to her feet. "I'll be a gentleman as often as possible in that case. Come on guys, let's go." Harry led the way into the cave, the only light they had the glowing tips of their wands.

Ron looked at Draco. "And how long has that been going on?"

Draco lifted a shoulder. "Since we were eleven. Only recently have they started that though." Draco looked at Ron's shocked look and laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't know."

"I had no idea they liked each other."

"It's been obvious from the start."

Ron looked over. "Are we having a civilized conversation here or is it my imagination?"

Draco didn't get a chance to answer. The cave lit up with the fiery breath of a Hungarian Horntail dragon.

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Okay everyone. Two events per chapter. That means the dragon and the maze next chapter, and the unicorn and the rescue chapter after next. After that, the story will be centered on getting the Horcruxes and defeating Voldemort. I'm looking at another fifteen chapters probably. Any suggestions on plot and where you would like to see this go are welcome and appreciated.


	6. Mermish and Telepathy

Here we go with Chapter 6. I really appreciate and value all the reviews that I have gotten so far. I'm happy that everyone is enjoying what I'm writing. Again, anyone interested in beta reading should just send me an email at The only thing I ask is that you're either an author or an experienced beta reader. If you're an author, please provide a link to a story you have written, and if you're a beta reader, please provide a link to a story you have betaed. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know I really enjoy writing it.

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Harry looked up at the dragon from where he was crouching with Ron behind a boulder. "Okay, we have to get around this thing. It looks like it's the same setup as the troll. A door, keys and we have to pick the right one."

Ron peered around the rock to look at the door. "No keys, mate."

Draco waved from where he and Hermione were. They had dove in the opposite direction when the dragon had breathed fire at them, and were kneeling between two large stones. "Blood!" he yelled. "It takes blood!"

Hermione was moving slowly toward the door the get a better look. "There's an inscription."

"Well?" Draco demanded impatiently, dashing between the dragon's legs and barely missing being hit with the spiked tail. He joined Harry and Ron. "What does it say, Granger?"

"That only the blood of the righteous and pure of heart will open the door. All others are left to feed the dragon."

Draco gulped audibly. "Well then. Looks like this is the end of the road for me."

Ron turned to him. "Maybe not. You don't have any personal gain in this."

Draco's jaw dropped. "Imagine that. Weasley had an intelligent thought. Granger!"

Hermione whirled around, leapt over the tail as it swung. The dragon couldn't decide who it wanted to go after first. "What?"

"You bleed on the damned thing while we keep it busy. When you've bled, switch places with Ron. Three of us will keep this wanker busy until we get that door open."

Hermione nodded. "Get out there then. Dragons don't like fire!"

Harry looked at her. "What do you mean they don't like fire?"

"It reminds them of another dragon. Dragons are loners. If this dragon isn't a male, it should retreat back into the cave." Hermione turned her wand into a knife, took a deep breath and sliced the palm of her hand. She let the blood drip into the slot on the door until she heard internal wheels turning and clanking. With a squeal and a moan, the door swung open, and Hermione was left staring at a green maze. "Come on guys! It's open!"

Hermione stepped through, but when Ron tried to follow her, a force tossed him back and the door slammed shut. Hermione pounded on it from the other side. "We have to go through one at a time! Each of us has to do it individually!"

Draco took control. "Ron, start bleeding! Harry, you're with me!"

Harry didn't take the time to think about the fact that he was taking orders from Draco. He simply did what was necessary to survive. "Get down, Malfoy! I'm going to use the infermo!" Draco dropped to the ground just as Harry shouted the spell, and a great blast of fire came from the tip of his wand. The dragon screamed, reared, and charged Harry, who turned and ran. He dove behind a stone, barely escaping the blast of flame from the dragon's snout.

Draco had an idea. One he wasn't sure would work in their favor. But it was an idea nonetheless, and from where he was standing, with Ron having just stepped through the door and Harry hiding from a rampaging Hungarian Horntail. He lifted his wand, and conjured another dragon. Another male. In his estimation, they would either fight, or they would both try to eat him. Either way, he wouldn't be there very long to see much.

It worked. The dragons faced each other, and the cave lit up with streams of fire. Not stopping to think, he sliced his hand open and slammed it against the door. Harry was running from the other side of the cave, and had his own hand open and bleeding by the time the door shut behind Draco.

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Draco looked around. The maze was green. That was about all he could tell. It was about ten foot high, and thick enough that he couldn't see a thing through it. A few spells and a try at Apparition told him that he wasn't blasting his way out or Apparating to the other side. They didn't tell him, however, why Hermione and Ron weren't there. To his surprise and dismay, he jumped when a hand grabbed his arm. His wand was pointing at her a second after he saw who it was.

"Don't curse me, moron." Ginny said, tucking her wand into her robes. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"How did you get here?"

"Hermione's spell. I thought since wards and blocks couldn't detect people who were under it, then whatever sensors were on this place couldn't either. Every time I felt it wearing off, I recast it. You guys have been so busy with everything that you had to do, you never noticed. I think that this far into the game, it wouldn't matter if there were five or four. I doubt there are any sensors in this part."

Draco didn't want to, but was forced to agree. "So where is everyone else?"

"I have no idea. I came through with you." She looked back to where the door had disappeared. "I think we should look at this as another test. Not only do we have to find our way out, we have to find each other."

Again, he didn't want to, but had to agree with her. "Okay. Let's get started then. It's a maze filled with magical creatures. That means Hermione is the one most likely to make it through. Harry has blind luck that seems to be holding up okay, so we might find him too. Ron is the one we should search for first, because he's the one most likely to get himself killed in here."

Ginny nodded. "Magical creatures is not his strong point."

Draco scoffed. "Does he have a strong point?"

Ginny glared at his. "He's my brother, Malfoy. You'd better watch your mouth."

Draco shrugged. "Nothing wrong with telling the cold, hard truth. Come on, Weasel. Let's go."

"Lead the way, Ferret." Ginny took off after him when he strode off in no particular direction whatsoever. "Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Does it look like I've ever been here before?" Draco asked impatiently. "That is not a question that requires and answer." He said when she opened her mouth. "The answer is an obvious one that we both know. The maze leads in one direction and one direction only. That means, until it splits, we don't have a choice on which way we go." He looked up at the sky. "Merlin help me. Why am I stuck with this girl?"

Ginny snorted. "I'm only four months younger than you are, Malfoy. I'm eighteen just like you."

"Don't remind me." Draco looked between a left path and one that went straight ahead. "Any suggestion?"

Ginny looked at both of them. "Straight."

Draco turned left and started down the path. They hadn't gone far before they were faced with a pack of blast ended skrewts. "Shit."

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Harry looked around. He was alone. In a maze, and his friends were no where in sight. Not a good situation to be in. Not a situation he wanted to be in. Taking it all in stride, he headed to his right. It was a maze. They'd all four get mixed up and eventually run into one another. And once they did, they'd probably know which way was out. Or, at the very least, which way wasn't out. And that was nearly as good.

He just hoped Ron had gotten the easy route. He wasn't too great with defending himself against magical creatures. Especially spiders. IF Ron was faced with a spider, well, it wouldn't be too hard to find him. He'd run screaming in the opposite direction, and probably climb the wall of the maze.

That was it. Climb the wall. Or better yet. Harry looked at his wand. It couldn't possibly be that easy. Nothing was that easy. Oh well. It didn't hurt to try, and it was his best shot at finding his companions quickly.

He quickly conjured a ladder, and leaned it against the hedges. Hesitantly, he stepped onto the first rung. When he wasn't thrown off by any magical forces, and nothing else bad happened, he continued on the way up. He wasn't entirely sure the hedge itself wasn't just biding its time and waiting to eat him, but that was just the risk he was going to have to take.

Once at the top, his worst fears were confirmed. He could see Ron and Hermione both. Hermione was getting past a sphinx, which he knew she wouldn't have a problem with. She was smart enough that she would know the answer to any riddle it gave her. But Ron had encountered probably the biggest spider Harry had even seen. It dwarfed Aragog.

Damning the consequences, Harry stepped onto the top of the hedge. When it held him, and teeth didn't latch onto his ankles, he held his breath and leapt onto the next hedge. He had to get to Ron, and had to get their fast. Ron wasn't going to be able to outrun it for long.

He made several leaps he wasn't sure he was going to be able to make, but before a minute was up, he was directly above Ron. With another deep breath, he jumped off the wall and directly in front of the spider. Ron turned when he heard the crash, and skidded to a stop. "Harry!"

"How's it goin', Ron?" Harry asked, swishing his wand at the spider. He muttered a spell, and the spider crashed onto the ground, all eight legs wound together with a sturdy rope. "Ready to go get Hermione?"

Ron nodded, speechless. "How did you get here?"

"I decided to go over instead of through. These hedges are strong enough to hold us. Come on, let's go." Harry conjured his ladder again, and sent Ron up first. "Step to the side now, leave room for me to come up. How are you at jumping?"

Ron gaped at him. "Jumping?" he asked incredulously. "Why don't you just conjure a plank from here to there?"

Harry considered that. "Good idea." He whipped his wand and a plank spurted out of the end of it. It landed with a thud on the other side, and the two men cautiously walked across. They levitated the plank from hedge to hedge until they arrived at Hermione's location. "Herms!"

Hermione looked up, and her face brightened when she saw Harry and Ron. "Hey. Have you found Draco yet?"

"Not yet." Harry said, looking around. "I don't see him." He looked back down at her. "Do you want to come up, or shall I levitate you?"

Hermione lifted an eyebrow. "I'll handle it." She pointed her wand at herself. "Wingardium leviosa."

She levitated up to the top of the hedge, and then dropped onto it. "This really isn't fair. I had to get past the sphinx. And you two get to stay together and just walk over these things. I came out right in front of the damn thing."

"We didn't come out together." Harry said, helping her across the plank. "I found Ron fighting a spider. I got out in the clear, and figured out that I could get up here. After that, I got to Ron first, and now here we are."

Ron nodded. "Giant spider. We tied up it's feet."

Harry chose not to correct him. "Let's find Malfoy and get out of the place. I don't like mazes."

Hermione was instantly sympathetic. She'd forgotten about Cedric Diggory and everything Harry had gone through during the TriWizard Tournament. "Oh, Harry." She reached out and took his hand. "I'd forgotten. This has to be hard on you."

"It's worth it."

Ron pointed. "There, I see Malfoy." He squinted as they switched directions. "Who's that with him?"

Hermione looked. "That's Ginny!"

"How'd she get here?"

But Ron was off. He was going to give his sister a piece of his mind, and then find a way to get her back to the burrow. His baby sister had no business anywhere near the task that he and his friends and Malfoy had undertaken. No business being there at all.

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Ginny looked up when she heard her name being called. "Draco!" he stopped and turned.

"What now, Weasley?"

"I see Harry and Hermione and Ron."

"Where?"

Ginny pointed. "Up there."

Draco looked to where she pointed. "Now why didn't I think of that?" he wondered out loud, conjuring a ladder. "Ladies first."

Ginny smiled beguilingly. "Then by all means, go right ahead."

Draco was grumbling when he pushed her up the ladder. "Just get your scrawny ass up there."

Ginny grinned over her shoulder. "I've been told I have a very nice ass thank you."

That comment was the only thing that made Draco look. He was afraid he agreed with whomever had made that particular statement. They made it onto the top of the hedge and waited until the other three arrived. Ron immediately jammed his finger into his sister's face.

"What the bloody buggering hell do you think you're doing here? How the fuck did you get here in the first place?" he demanded, his face turning as red as his hair. Ginny simply swatted his hand away.

"I used Hermione's spell. The sensors couldn't pick me up. I came through with Draco." She smiled at the other two. "Hi guys."

Hermione was trying desperately not to laugh. The situation didn't call for laughter, but she was tempted nonetheless. "Hey Gin."

Harry stepped in between the siblings. "We'll talk about this later, Ron. There's nothing to be done about it now in any case. Let's just find the way out of here."

Draco was already on the move. "Come on then. I see the door." He looked back at Harry. "Do the papers I got from my father say if we have to open more veins to get through this one?"

Harry was reading and walking, which Hermione didn't exactly think was smart, but he shook his head and stepped back onto the plank without falling off. "No. We should just be able to turn the knob and walk through."

Draco moved the plank to work as a ramp. "Let's go then." He headed over to the door, reached for the door knob. He noticed that Ginny had turned herself invisible again, presumably in case the door was able to tell how many people went through. The door swung open easily, and all five went through.

There was a lake. A huge, seemingly endless lake, with just a narrow stretch of beach on which they were standing. Harry let out a low whistle. "I take it this is where we face the merpeople."

There was a splash and one surfaced. "That, younglings, would be accurate."

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And there is Chapter 6. It's late again, but it's still posted today. And since my computer crashed yesterday night after I posted Chapter 5, and I had to reinstall everything, that's pretty damn good I think. Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to review. I love getting feedback, and don't forget to vote starting Aug. 15. That's four days before my 18th birthday, so good votes would be a great bday present!


	7. A Scarifice Rewarded

Hey everyone. I just wanted to address a couple of reviews. One said that the Draco conjuring the dragon in the last chapter was unlikely. Well, the way I see it, Draco is a derivative of the Latin word draconis which means dragon. I think that that would mean his patronus is I dragon, and also that he would have less trouble conjuring a dragon than other wizards. That's just my opinion. And to the one reviewer who keeps telling me that this fic is lacking in dialogue. The first three chapters were hardly anything but dialogue. And the last three have been the trials, and there really isn't a place in there that the characters can sit down and have a talk about everything that has been going on and what they think and feel about the whole thing. And as I don't like writing first person POV's, the amount of dialogue you're getting is just going to have to suffice until the next chapter. But that aside, I really have enjoyed ALL the reviews I've gotten. I hope you review even more.

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Harry looked at Hermione. "Please tell me you know what he just said."

"Of course I do. He said you're right." Hermione turned to the merman and spoke in Mermish. "We are seeking the Chamber where our friends are being held in a sleep state."

The merman appeared as if he were humoring her. "Of course you are. Why else would you be here?" he held up a hand when Hermione would have spoken. "No one has gotten this far. The fact that you have is a testament to your strength, courage and bravery as well as determination and loyalty to both your cause and to each other. You have been deemed pure of heart and intention by the dragon's cave, intelligent by the Potions room, brave by the troll, and intelligent by the maze. Determination is what has brought you this far despite the obstacles that you faced."

Draco was getting annoyed that he couldn't understand. "What did he say?"

Hermione looked annoyed that he had interrupted. "He's telling us what we've done so far." Her gaze went back to the merman. "What do we have to do next?"

The merman smiled. "There is no test here. No danger to your health or life. I am to pick the two of you who are to continue on. Two and only two will be taken to the other side of our home and presented to the unicorn."

"And what of the rest of us?"

"You will wait here with us. If your friends complete their mission, then you will be taken back through and left in front of the first door. No harm will come to you."

"And if they fail?"

"You will meet the same fate as they." He grinned, showing sharp, yellow teeth. "You will be our food."

Hermione sighed. Of course. She should have guessed that before. "All right. Let me talk to my friends."

"Well?" Draco demanded, "What did he say?"

"That there are no tests here, but that he's going to pick two of us to be taken to the other side to be presented to the unicorn. The rest of us will wait here for them to finish. If they don't get Lily and James and Sirius out though, we become merpeople food."

'Well, that's an incentive for ya." Ron joked, then shut up when he got three glares set upon him. Though he couldn't see her, he imagined Ginny was doing the same thing.

"All right, 'Mione. Tell them to pick who goes across. We need to get this done."

Hermione nodded and walked back to the merman. "We are ready for you to choose."

"Good. Tell me, human, who has the most to lose if this mission is failed?"

Hermione didn't even have to think about it. "Harry and Draco. It's Harry's parents that are in there, his godfather too. But Draco spent most of his life as our enemy. He's trying to prove himself as loyal to our cause. If he fails to do so, Draco will be hated by both sides. Someone will kill him, and quick."

"You do not wish to go?"

"Of course I do!" Hermione looked appalled that he could even suggest that. "Harry is my best friend. He and Ron and I have been doing things like this since we were eleven. We've never done anything apart. Well, hardly anything. I would love to be the one to go. I'm smarter than either of them, probably than both of them put together. But the only thing I have to lose is my life. It's the same with Ron. There's nothing else he has to lose."

"So this Harry has his life and family at stake, and Draco has his life and reputation to lose?"

"Basically."

"Powerful things are both of those. They can drive men and women to do wonderful and horrible things. This is a good thing you are trying to do. They are the two who will go. Inform them while I make arrangements."

Hermione nodded. "I'll do that." She turned to the other three, caught between relief and disappointment that she wouldn't have to go any further. "Harry, you and Draco are the ones he has chosen to go."

The two men exchanged a look. Harry spoke. "What about you and Ron?" Ginny was just being unspoken of. They didn't want to draw attention to her.

"We have to stay here and wait until you either get them out or fail."

"And what happens if we do fail?"

Hermione lifted her eyes to meet Harry's. "We get fed to the merpeople."

Draco nodded. "We just won't fail then." He walked to the beach, both to wait for their transportation and to give Harry time to say goodbye to his friends. He hadn't been there for more than ten seconds when he felt a hand on his arm. Since he couldn't see the owner, he imagined it belonged to Ginny. "What do you want, Weasel?"

"Just to say good luck." She sighed. "I think it's really wonderful, what you're doing here. You don't have to do this, but you're doing it anyway. For people you've never liked and for a cause you've never believed in."

"Self preservation Weasley. That's all it is."

"So you say. But you didn't have to come. You could have stayed home and not done this with us. But you did it because you knew that we'd have a better chance of getting out with your help. I don't care what you say, Draco, there's a good man in there that manages to break through every once in a while."

"Think what you want." Draco was completely uncomfortable with the conversation. Ginny had changed entirely too much for his liking. She'd grown up while he hadn't been looking, and had gone from an annoying young girl to an only slightly annoying woman. He didn't care for the transformation.

"I really think you'll do it. Get through this and get the Potters and Sirius out of there. Slytherin's are determined and ruthless. You're both of those, and in this case, they're good qualities to have."

"You're entitled to your opinion." Draco heard her irritated huff and footsteps. "Ginny."

"What?"

"You aren't as bad as I thought you were. Thanks for the pep talk."

Ginny walked over, and Draco felt her hands grasp his shoulders. Before he could ask what the hell she was doing, she had lifted herself up and pressed her mouth to his. Before it had started, it was over, and she was moving away. "For luck." She tossed over her shoulder. Harry bumped into her on his way down and lifted his brows at Draco.

"What was that about?"

Draco looked flabbergasted. "I have absolutely no idea whatsoever."

"What did she say?"

"Good luck."

"Well, that's Ginny for you. She's going to get blasted by about a hundred Weasley's when we get back, and she knows it. She also knows that she won't be going anywhere with anyone for a good long while. But she had to make sure we were going to be okay." Harry decided to test the waters, see if the little niggling idea he had in the back of his mind had any basis in fact. "I really wish we hadn't had to break up sixth year."

Draco didn't like the little licks of anger and something he reluctantly identified as jealousy in his gut. "Why?"

"She's a great girl. Smart, brave, strong, unstoppable. And the girl certainly isn't hard on the eyes. And her mouth-" Harry was caught off guard when Draco's fist plowed into his jaw.

"Don't talk about her like that." He warned in a low voice. Harry was impressed by how menacing the other man could sound. He was just glad that the other three people on the beach had seemingly missed the punch. Which, he admitted gleefully, had been well worth the information he had gathered.

"So you do like her." Harry said, indescribably happy to have something to hold over Malfoy's head.

"I never said that."

"You wouldn't punch me over a girl you didn't like, Malfoy. Hell, you wouldn't normally punch me over a girl you do like. It would have just been an excuse to punch me."

"You've got that right." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Draco regretted them.

"You do like her. Does she like you?"

"How the bloody hell should I know?"

"I'm not blind, Malfoy. I saw the whole thing. She's invisible, but I'm not deaf. And you looked extremely surprised. Did she kiss you?"

"Watch it, Potter." Draco warned. "We may not be fighting each other at the moment, but neither are we any kind of friends."

"Just a simple question so I know if I need to return the punch. Cause if you kissed her, that's what I'm going to be forced to do."

"I didn't kiss her."

"Good." Harry eyed the raft four merpeople had towed to the waterline. "I think we're supposed to get on there." He looked at Hermione, who nodded. She could understand the instructions the merpeople were giving.

"Let's get this show on the road then."

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The ride across the lake was uneventful, though Harry and Draco spent the entire time with their wands pointed at the merpeople. Neither trusted the creatures. But soon, they saw the other side, and a magnificent white creature. The unicorn. Harry let out a low whistle.

"Amazing isn't it?"

Draco didn't want to agree, but had to. "Yeah."

Unicorns were excellent judges of character, and would only let them into the chamber if they were deemed to be unselfish. If one of them failed, all five died. "So we get past the unicorn, and then we have to convince the chamber itself to let us in."

"Right. Like the Room of Requirement. We need it to be the place where your parents and Sirius are."

"Let's worry about that in a few minutes." They stepped off the raft. "How do we speak to a unicorn?"

Draco lifted his shoulders. "I think I read somewhere that they're telepathic."

Both men jumped as soon as they heard another voice in their heads. "That would be exactly right. Come closer Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy. I need to get a better look at you. Tell me, how has your journey been thus far?"

Draco answered. "Not easy, but you'd know that already."

"I would. And as I'm sure you were told at the merpeople's far shore, you are the first to enter this trial that has made it to me. No one ever made it past the dragon. Tell me, young Malfoy. How did you conjure that dragon?"

Draco had been wondering why someone hadn't asked him that. "My namesake is the dragon. I've always been strangely connected to them. My Patronus is also a dragon. That made it easy for me to conjure one."

The unicorn considered that answer, found it satisfactory. "Potter, your parents lie in there."

"Yes."

"And your Godfather."

"Yes."

"You've thought they were dead."

"I have."

"Family is a powerful bond. It is the love you have for those people, the same as it was their love for you that allows you to be here. Without their love, you would be dead. And without yours, they would remain in that Chamber until the Dark One pulled them out. Pass. You are worthy." The unicorn turned to Draco. "You have struggled with the life you chose. One of killing and of torturing. You turned from that life, and your family, in order to do what your heart told you was right. You think you're doing it to save yourself, but truly you're doing it to make amends for all the hurt and pain you have caused. Pass. You, too, are worthy. Though in a much different way than your companion."

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Hermione ran to the beach as soon as she saw the merman reappear. He didn't look happy in the least. "Did they make it? Did the unicorn let them in?"

"It did. They passed. They were both worthy. Go back humans. Nothing in the previous chambers will hurt you. You will be able to wait at the entrance, for that is where your friends will exit."

Hermione turned back and threw her arms around Ron. "They got through! The unicorn let them pass! We have to go back and wait for them at the entrance. Apparently the entrance and the exit are the same thing. Let's go. I want to be waiting there when they get out, or you know them, they'll think the merpeople ate us anyway and come back in."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Men."

Ron chose not to comment, and instead opened the door for both of the women.

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And there's Chapter 7. Updates will come regularly this next week, but the week after that, on Wednesday and Thursday, I have my college orientation, so I probably won't get anything posted. I just hate that it's so close to the deadline. But I'll make up for it right after that. Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review!


	8. Settling In

Okay, Chapter 8. Love the reviews, wish I'd gotten more on the last chapter, but such is life I suppose. This is now officially the most I have ever written in so short a time. Normally my muse decides to make me wait in between update, but the material this time is coming just as fast as I can type it. I finished Chapter 7 in less that an hour this morning. It's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. I love writing this story, and I am remarkably happy that all of you reading it like it as well. Unfortunately, I probably won't get any chapters posted tomorrow or on Monday. But, I'm hoping that two chapters today will help make up for it. That way you're only going technically be shorted one chapter. But I want this finished by competition time. Twenty chapters is what I think I'm shooting for total. BTW, in the next few chapters, there will probably be a higher rating. I don't want to have to change the rating of the whole story, so I think I'll write it so that my younger readers can bypass the heavier stuff. It won't be NC-17, it won't even be a strong R, but I think it might get a little romantic. Light R as my best guess. So this is an advanced warning to tall those out there who aren't old enough for it.

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Harry looked over at Draco. "Look, before we go in there, I just want to say thanks." At Draco's surprised look, Harry continued. "I know you didn't have to do this. That you could have continued the way that you were and that you would have been fine on your own. But you didn't. You're doing this, helping me gets my parents and Sirius back. That's enough to make me change my mind about you, Malfoy."

Draco didn't want to be touched. He didn't want to honestly believe that Harry was telling the truth about what he thought. He didn't want to believe that the people he'd had this adventure with were actually so big hearted that they could forgive him for all that he had done, for what he had been, for where he had come from. But then again, he supposed that it was mercy and forgiveness that really separated them from Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

"Don't mention it." Draco said after a pause during which he tried to come up with something more to say than that. "We're even. You helped me, now I'm helping you. Quid pro quo."

Harry nodded, understanding. "A what for a what. This was repayment."

"Not precisely, but close enough. I wouldn't have done this if there wasn't something in it for me, Potter. I just want to make sure you understand that I'm not as selfless as you and your gang would like to believe that I am. I'm in this for me."

Harry had a feeling that wasn't the only reason, but he was too anxious to see his parents to argue it any further. "Whatever you say, Malfoy. Let's get this done." Harry looked at the door. "I need entrance into the chamber where my parents and godfather are."

Draco didn't think it could have possibly been that easy, but the door swung open nonetheless. Wands out, the men proceeded into the room. It was a stone chamber, with slats of stone in rows, like primitive cots. Only three of them had occupants. Harry started to run over, but Draco grabbed his arm.

"We stay together. No one awake has ever been in here. We don't know what might be guarding them."

Nodding, Harry hung back to match his stride to Draco's. Slowly, they approached the cots. Harry took the beaker of potion from his robes. "Does this have to be swallowed?"

Draco thought for a second. "Yes."

"Help me then. We have to get them sitting up or else they could choke. Sirius first. He'll be able to explain to my parents who I am and the fact that they've been cryogenically frozen for seventeen years."

"I couldn't agree more with that one, Potter. Last thing I want is one of your parents mistaking me for my father and cursing me clear into next week. From what I've heard, they were wonderful wizards and could curse without using a wand."

"You'd be right there." Harry grabbed Sirius' shoulders and hefted them up. Acting quickly, Draco pulled out the stopped, and poured a mouthful into his mouth. Sirius coughed and sputtered, but swallowed the drink. Not ten seconds later, his eyes opened.

"Harry?" Sirius asked, grabbing his godson in a hug. "What happened? I should be dead!"

Harry returned the hug hard. His throat was clogged with emotion. "We thought that you were. That thing led down to here. It's beneath the Ministry. A sleep chamber. Voldemort knows about it, and Draco found out and told us, so here we are to rescue you."

But Sirius' gaze had fastened elsewhere. "Is that?"

"It's Mom and Dad."

Draco decided he'd be the best to explain. When Lily and James died, Lily gave her life to save Harry, and James did the same thing to save them both. Lily was protected by James' sacrifice, and then Harry were protected by hers'. Retrospectively, Harry were also protected by James', which meant that the three of them were connected that night. When Voldemort cursed him, the power of not only Lily's spell, but also of James', protected him, and made the spell reflect itself upon Voldemort. When that happened, somehow, and I don't know how, the most recent spells Voldemort had cast, were reversed.

" Fudge wasn't the Minister then, a man named Ricardo Juarez was. The only Hispanic minister we've ever had. The Aurors who were first on the scene reported that Lily and James were still alive, but only barely. He ordered them taken to St. Mungo's, under different names. They were treated, but kept sedated. When they were stable, Juarez had them taken to the chamber beneath the ministry and put into a sleep state. A cryogenic one, if you will. They can only be unfrozen from inside the chamber.

"Juarez and both of the Aurors who knew who was in that chamber were killed barely two weeks later. No one knew about it until Scrimgeour took over. Fudge had received a report on it, but apparently was too busy with keeping things running these past years, that he never got around to going down there. Now here's where the details get a little foggy. From what I know, I can tell you the apparently the thing you, Sirius, fell, or leapt or whatever the hell you did, into that night led straight into that Chamber. When everything had been set up thousands of years ago, it was thought that people might try to break in, and that whoever did would need to be stopped. By falling into that thing. But generations went by and no one ever did, so it was forgotten about where it led. Our assumption that anyone put in here was automatically put to sleep was right."

Sirius let out a low whistle. "What do you say we wake up your parents Harry? You must be dying to meet them. But why did you wake me up first?"

"Because they won't know who I am. They think I'm still a baby. I'm eighteen. They know you, they'll recognize you, even though you're older now."

"Makes sense." Sirius looked at Draco. "You batting for our side now, boy."

Despite the fact that it sounded more like a statement than a question, Draco decided to reply. "Just settling some old debts and paying for some mistakes." He shrugged. "That and murdering women, children, and Muggles isn't my style."

"Glad to hear it." He looked at Harry. "Shouldn't you be in Auror training or playing Quidditch or something?"

"I didn't finish Hogwarts, Sirius."

"What!" Sirius was mad about that one. "And why the buggering hell not?"

"Because I made the school too dangerous for other kids. Sirius, at the end of my sixth year, Snape killed Dumbledore. Voldemort's on the rise again. He's taking over."

"All the more reason to hurry the hell up and wake your parents. They can help. I can help. Your father would just love a crack at Severus I imagine."

Harry thought about what Dumbledore had said, about Snape being the one to give away his parents. "He'll have to get in line. I want a crack at him myself." He slipped behind his mother and lifted her shoulders. Sirius dumped in the potion and Lily did the same thing that Sirius had. Coughed, swallowed and opened her eyes.

"Sirius, oh Merlin, where are we? I thought for sure I was dead. Harry! Sirius, where's my baby? And James?"

Sirius grasped Lily's shoulders. "Calm down Lily. There's a lot to be explained here. A lot you need to know. You aren't twenty one anymore. You've been frozen, put to sleep in a special chamber beneath the ministry. You've been down here seventeen years."

"Harry?" Lily questioned tearfully.

"Right here Mum."

Lily whirled, saw her son. Her very grown son. She burst into tears and reached for him. Near tears himself, Harry moved into his mother's hug. Sirius gestured to Draco. "Let's give them a minute while we wake up James. I imagine he doesn't want us to see him lose control."

Strangely sympathetic toward Harry, Draco did as Sirius asked. He could see Lily and Harry hugging and talking out of the corner of his eye, and honestly, it broke his heart. He'd never experienced such love from anyone in his life.

Sirius administered the potion while Draco held James up. When James opened his eyes, Sirius launched into a brief explanation of everything that had happened. James hugged Sirius quickly and then went to his wife and son. Sirius casually slung an arm around Draco.

"It's a good thing that you did here. And I know you say you didn't do it for him, but it's still a good thing you've done. You aren't like the other Malfoys, Draco. You've got a heart. You're what I would consider to be a human."

Draco didn't know how the people in that cave were refraining from killing him. After all that his family had done to them. After all that they'd been through because of his father and Voldemort. After seventeen years of separation. Seventeen years of Harry thinking that his parents were dead. It amazed him.

James looked down at Lily and Harry. "Why don't we get out of here? There's a lot we need to get caught up on. I have a feeling that it'll take a few hours."

Harry grinned at his father. "It can wait. Molly Weasley cooked a welcome back dinner, and there are some people I'd like for you to meet. People who have saved my life more that once."

Lily's gaze found Draco. "And who are you?"

"Mum, Dad, this is Draco Malfoy. He's the one who told me that you were still alive and showed me how to get here."

James strode to Draco, offered the younger man a hand. "Thank you. For giving us back our family."

Draco took the hand hesitantly, shook it. "Seemed only fair, after all my family did to instigate the separation."

Lily hugged him tightly. "They don't deserve you, Draco. You're family doesn't deserve to be able to call you theirs'. They're unloving, cold, hard hearted people who don't know how to care about anyone but themselves."

Draco wondered if Lily wasn't psychic as well. He looked into her eyes, and saw no judging there. Just compassion and kindness. Warmth and love. He felt something wedge itself in his throat. He lowered his voice and cautiously returned her embrace. "I wish my parents were more like you."

Lily's laugh was like a bell. Bright and beautiful. "And don't worry. I won't tell a soul you said that." She linked arms with Harry, and with Draco. "Now let's get the hell out of this place."

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There we have it. Chapter 8. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Prolly no update tomorrow. I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything at this point. Damn my college physical and shot appointment. That's just my luck I suppose. Don't forget to review. I thrive on reviews.


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